The first time in my life that I ran away, was for ill treatment, in
1835. I was living with a Mr. Vires, in the village of Newcastle. His
wife was a very cross woman. She was every day flogging me, boxing,
pulling my ears, and scolding, so that I dreaded to enter the room
where she was. This first started me to running away from them. I was
often gone several days before I was caught. They would abuse me for
going off, but it did no good. The next time they flogged me, I was
off again; but after awhile they got sick of their bargain, and
returned me back into the hands of my owners. By this time Mr. White
had married his second wife. She was what I call a tyrant. I lived
with her several months, but she kept me almost half of my time in the
woods, running from under the bloody lash. While I was at home she
kept me all the time rubbing furniture, washing, scrubbing the floors;
and when I was not doing this, she would often seat herself in a large
rocking chair, with two pillows about her, and would make me rock her,
and keep off the flies. She was too lazy to scratch her own head, and
would often make me scratch and comb it for her. She would at other
times lie on her bed, in warm weather, and make me fan her while she
slept, scratch and rub her feet; but after awhile she got sick of me,
and preferred a maiden servant to do such business. I was then hired
out again; but by this time I had become much better skilled in
running away, and would make calculation to avoid detection, by taking
with me a bridle. If any body should see me in the woods, as they
have, and asked "what are you doing here sir! you are a runaway!"--I
said, "no, sir, I am looking for our old mare;" at other times,
"looking for our cows." For such excuses I was let pass. In fact, the
only weapon of self defence that I could use successfully, was that of
deception. It is useless for a poor helpless slave, to resist a white
man in a slaveholding State. Public opinion and the law is against
him; and resistance in many cases is death to the slave, while the law